Chapter 3: Arguments and An Approaching Death

The room was tiny, made of wooden bars and a dirt floor. A simple mat was the bed and there was a bucket for a toilet. Ichigo almost cringed at the conditions he would be living in for who knows how long, until Rukia can get him out of this mess. Rukia... his thoughts were already filling with her again. During the whole trip to heaven he worried Byakuya had brought and accomplice with him to find Rukia; but his worrying was pointless, according to Zangetsu. The sword had to constantly tell his master to be calm and trust that his mate would be able to save them.

Ichigo felt his anxiety rise as the guards lightly pushed him into the cell. They quickly backed away, like they were afraid Ichigo would steal their souls or something. He lightly chuckled at their fear; he wouldn't harm them, he needed everyone here to think he was a 'good guy'. If people stopped fearing him and actually tried to get to know him... He felt his face contort into his trademark scowl and his shoulders sank. Why? Why is it so hard to try? To actually look past yourself and just try to know us. We're not that different from you...

Ichigo sat on this 'bed' and took a few deep breaths. It will all be ok, he told himself. Remember what Zangetsu said, Rukia will fix this, these are her people, she knows them and she knows me. She will fix this-

The slamming of a door shook Ichigo from his mediocre attempt at meditation. A small group of men entered in a square formation around Byakuya Kuchiki. Ichigo stood, hoping he would be able to speak. One of the men who stood in front of Byakuya poked at Ichigo with some sort of spear, the end of it was sharp and split into two points. Ichigo fell as he felt some sort of energy flow through him, it burned and Ichigo felt his senses dulling. The words the men said slurred together and the colors of the world smudged before his eyes. The world then went black and Ichigo fell into a state of unconsciousness, unaware that the group of men was moving him to another chamber.

(^^)(^^)

Rukia heard the gears grind to a halt as the ground became stable again. A hiss of what sounded like pressurized air sounded and the floor locked into place. Rukia let herself look up, they were now in a dark pit that was at least 40 feet deep. If something went wrong there would be no escape for her... Being down here reminded her of how mortal she was, she could last a few weeks without food, maybe four days without water... the demon next to her could easily snap her in two without thinking... I'm called the Queen of Hell... how can I be this weak and still be called that?

A scratching noise brought her out of her trance, she turned around and saw Ichigo's other half trying to stick a key in a lock on a large wooden door; either it was the wrong key, or he was extremely uncoordinated. The key simply wouldn't go in and the noise of the metal colliding and scraping was grating on her ears. She gave him a few more tries before she cautiously tip-toed over, as not to startle him, and opened her hand. The demon growled and shoved the key in her hand like he was a frustrated child who couldn't make his toy work. Rukia carefully lined up the key and gently slid it in. The demon growled again, angry that she had gotten the key in on her first try. The girl turned the key clockwise and the sound of latches lifting and gears turning followed.

The worn wooden door opened with a loud creak, rust bits falling from the hinges. Rukia pushed the heavy door open further so she could go in. Once there was enough space to fit through she started to enter, but heard nothing indicating the demon was following her. She turned her head and saw Ichigo's other half standing there, still as a statue.

"Aren't you coming?"

She questioned. The demon gave out a harsh laugh and took a few steps backward.

"That's a room for the Queen. The Queen..." another laugh, "No one but my Queen, our Queen, my Queen, our Queen, my Queen, our Queen..." He continued on like that for a while, Rukia decided that he was in no position to talk, let alone accompany her. She took a deep breath and ventured through the door.

Once her body was through, the door slammed shut with a surprising amount of force. Rukia felt herself jump at the loud noise and the change in air pressure. The room was damp, more damp than the dungeon and the floor felt like ice on her little feet. The goosebumps she had gotten earlier wouldn't be going away anytime soon. There was no light, only darkness, and the only sounds she heard were her breathing and the thumping of her heart. She wasn't scared, Ichigo would never send her to a dangerous place... but she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't nervous, no, nervous didn't quite cover it. She was anxious as hell; she had jumped at a mere door closing. After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Rukia walked forward, each of her steps echoed off the cold walls.

After walking about 30 paces, Rukia's knee hit something. She froze completely, waiting for something to happen. The thing that was touching her knee didn't move for a while; this thing was hard, but not sharp, the edge of it that her knee had hit was rounded and about the width of her fore-arm. Another deep breath and Rukia reached down, not knowing what to expect. Her hand met something smooth, she followed the object's curves to the floor, where a type of sphere seemed to be connected to this thing. It still hadn't moved so she gave it a knock, the thing was solid and the thump almost sounded like... wood. Furniture? She thought to herself. She quickly ran her hand up the thing and found that the thing rounded out and changed into a flat area instead of a vertical plane. This flat area felt like the velvet that dawned the furniture in the castle. No longer afraid, Rukia's hands roamed all over and she discovered that this thing she had run into was a chair. It felt much like the chairs in the dining hall or in the guest rooms.

Rukia quickly felt around for more furniture, she found another chair across from the one she already walked into and she lightly coughed when her tummy decided to say 'hello' to a table. On the table she felt around for anything that could provide light; she located a tiny box, shaking it and hearing what sounded like matches inside. Desperate to be able to see, she hastily opened the box and lit the first match she grabbed. The little light it provided let her see the other objects on the table: three tall candles, a vial of something, and a folded note.

She lit all the candles for maximum light and she looked around. She could see the velvet on the chairs was a deep red, like black cherries or blood. The chairs and table were made out of a darkly stained wood, like most of the furniture was in the castle. She still couldn't see the walls or the ceiling, but the floor was now visible and it was made out of large blocks of marble. She looked back to the table top and inspected the vial. It was glass with a black liquid inside it. the glass was fairly thick so it made sense that it was a tad heavier than she expected when she picked it up. The cap was made of the same glass and the rim was lined with gold paint. The vial was shaped like a teardrop with four little beads of glass to serve as 'legs'. It was about five inches tall, six with the cap. Rukia put the vial down and her eyes drifted to the note.

She unfolded it and nearly gasped at the simple words scribbled on the parchment.

This will bind us forever.

Be sure it's what you want.

-Ichigo

(^^)(^^)

Ichigo woke to cold water being dumped on his head, the water momentarily tamed his wild orange locks before they jumped back into place. The second the water rolled off his skin a screaming headache forced its way into his skull. The throbbing hurt like a bitch, but he had been through worse. Or so he told himself, he couldn't bite back the painful sounding groan that left his lips and he let his head stay hanging from his shoulders. Ichigo realized he was sitting up, probably bound to a chair. Shit, now my neck's gonna be sore for days...

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you are being detained for the following charges: the kidnap, unlawful imprisonment, and rape of Rukia Kuchiki, mortal sister of Byakuya Kuchiki. Your full cooperation is expected and every word that comes out of your mouth will be recorded for later use in court. Absolutely no disobedience will be tolerated, any act against myself, or any other official, will be put on record and will be used against you in court. Do you understand?"

Ichigo sighed, he knew where he was. One of the great interrogation rooms under the control of the Goddess of Judgement, Soi Fon. She was a bitch, and a tough one. Her duties involved gathering evidence against those who opposed the Laws of Heaven or who committed crimes. She also held a lot of power in the court cases themselves, she often elected herself to be the prosecutor and rarely did any other god object. Some considered her to be the most powerful of all the Gods of the Divine Court because of all the respect and power she had.

Ichigo lifted his head a little.

"What were the charges again?"

He could have sworn he heard rape in her little speech that he barely listened to. His head tilted a few degrees so his ear was turned up, slightly mocking her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Goddess' eyebrow twitch at his insubordination.

"The charges are the kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and rape of Rukia Kuchiki. Is that in anyway unclear, Mr. Kurosaki?"

Ichigo lifted his head all the way until his back was straight and he saw the whole room for the first time. Even simpler than his cell, white walls, a table with documents and pictures scattered over it, a chair on the other side of the table, the chair he was in, and an annoyingly bright light coming from the ceiling. Next to the other chair was Soi Fon, one hand on her hip and the other held a piece of paper that she was reading off of, but Ichigo guessed that she already had all the information on the table memorized. Her robes were white, like the other gods, her hair was in its signature braids and her Zanpakuto was strapped to her lower back. She hadn't changed a bit.

Ichigo first met Soi Fon when he died, she judged his soul and sent him to Hell. Your soul is unclean, tainted by hatred. This hate splits the soul into two pieces: a hollow, and the bits and pieces of the person you once were. The hollow always takes over. Therefore, I, Soi Fon, sentence you, Ichigo Kurosaki, to Hell. The words echoed in his head as his headache started to fade. She sentenced him to Hell for his hate, when she was the cause of it. Ichigo's mother had been murdered by a hollow and the Divine Court did nothing, took no action. Ichigo decided to no longer pray to the Gods, to forsake himself and kill the beast that slaughtered his beloved mother. He yearned for revenge for seven long years before he killed the hollow, and while he avenged his mother, Ichigo also died from wounds the hollow had given him. He lasted about ten minutes before he bled out, but that was long enough to watch the creature dissipate into nothingness.

Ichigo's jaw set and his eyes hardened, she said it. Rape. His normal scowl grew a bit more agitated as he answered her.

"I get the kidnapping and I get the imprisonment. But where the hell did you get rape?!"

Ichigo shouted. It was true that his soul was split, he was a demon, but that didn't make him a rapist. He was disgusted that the word had ever left his interrogator's lips.

"Mr. Kurosaki! You will never use that tone with me, got it?"

She hissed at him. Acting all high and mighty, people like her just pissed him off. Thinking she knows everything when she couldn't be farther from the truth.

"As for the rape charge, that was added on after Byakuya Kuchiki recovered evidence from your room." She pushed a picture forward so he could see. "That is a robe that was tailor made to fit Rukia, one of your slaves told us that. And Komamura identified both of your scents on it, but not just normal body odor. He found the pheromones that the body releases during sex, whether voluntary or not. This proves you've been ra-"

"If you say rape one more time, I'll kill you!"

He growled. These accusations were false and he would not stand for being called a rapist any longer. The ropes that bound his arms to the chair dug into his skin as he pulled against them and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face from the anger bubbling and boiling from within him.

"I did not rape her, I never raped her. She is my wife to be, my Queen and my soulmate. What the hell makes you think I'd rape her? She came to me. I never forced anything onto her. Loving me and making love were her choices, ones you and your damned court have no right to take away! I am hers and she is mine. I'm only here because I have faith in her, that she will speak and you will be forced to see the truth."

Ichigo barked from his chair. Soi Fon looked shocked to say the least. Her eyes had widened and her stance slackened as the Demon King had ranted. She blinked a few times and squared her shoulders to refocus herself.

"And what truth is that?"

Ichigo's blazing amber eyes bored into Soi Fon's critical onyx ones. If she were anyone else, she would be scared by the passion burning in his eyes.

"I love her, and she loves me."

From behind a sheet of reflective glass, Byakuya felt his hate for the Demon King grow. He had heard every word Ichigo said and Byakuya's anger began to rise to the surface. This boy is nothing more than a child with too much power, he chose to use it on Rukia. Love? What does a demon know of love? He is a fool who will pay with his life.

Oh my god I am so sorry this took so long! I have no excuse, but I did have another case of writer's block and no crazy dreams for inspiration. Hope you are all satisfied with this! if not, feel free to flip your titties somewhere else XD